What SPEAK means
Use language.
That is the short version. Read on for how to say SPEAK, how to use it, and a quick way to make it stick.
SPEAK at a glance
- Word: SPEAK
- Part of speech: verb
- Pronunciation: /spik/
- Meaning: Use language.
- Example: The prisoner won't speak.
Keep this box in view while you read the rest of the page. A short summary like this is often enough for a quick lookup, and the sections below are for when you want the meaning to actually stay with you.
How to say SPEAK
Pronunciation: /spik/
Part of speech: verb
Say SPEAK out loud a few times. Hearing your own voice say a new word is one of the fastest ways to remember both its sound and its meaning. Try saying it slowly first, then at normal speed, then inside a full sentence. If a part of the pronunciation trips you up, slow down on that part alone before putting the whole word back together.
SPEAK in a sentence
The prisoner won't speak.
Notice how SPEAK fits into that sentence as verb. Try swapping in your own subject and see if the sentence still makes sense. If it does, you have understood the meaning of SPEAK, not just memorized it.
Ways to remember SPEAK
A new word sticks better when you do something with it, not just read it.
Say it, then use it. Repeat SPEAK once, then build one sentence of your own with it today.
Connect it to something you know. Think of a moment from your own week where SPEAK could apply, even loosely.
Spell it out. Cover the word, spell SPEAK from memory, then check. This catches the letters your eyes skipped over the first time.
Come back tomorrow. A word reviewed a day later is far more likely to stay than one read once and left.
Notice it in the wild. Once you know SPEAK, you will start spotting it in things you read. Each time you notice it, the meaning gets a little more solid.
Play a board with SPEAK
A definition is easier to keep once you have used the word under a little pressure. Try today's word game, or search for more words like SPEAK with the word finder. Missed a word along the way? The vocabulary quiz is a quick way to check what stuck, and missed words come back around for review instead of disappearing.
For teachers and parents
This page works well as a quick reference before a lesson or a homework check. Look up a word, read the definition and example together, then ask the student to build a new sentence with it. A student who can use SPEAK correctly in a sentence they made up has learned it. One who can only repeat the definition back has not, yet.
A quick classroom routine: put SPEAK on the board, cover the definition, and ask the class to guess the meaning from the example sentence alone. Reveal the real definition after a few guesses. It takes a minute and gets students reasoning about context clues instead of just memorizing.
More words to learn
- Word of the day for a new word every day.
- Vocabulary quiz to test what you remember.
- How to play if you are new to the games on this site.
The letters in SPEAK
- Length: 5 letters
- Vowels: 2 (E, A)
- Different letters: 5, all different
- First letter: S, last letter: K
Words built from the same letters
- LAPSE: A break or intermission in the occurrence of something.
- PASTE: Join or attach with or as if with glue.
- PAUSE: Cease an action temporarily.
- PESKY: Causing irritation or annoyance.
- PHASE: A distinct state of matter in a system; matter that is identical in chemical composition and physical state and separated from other material by the phase boundary.
- SHAPE: The spatial arrangement of something as distinct from its substance.
- SKATE: Move along on skates.
- SNEAK: Put, bring, or take in a secretive or furtive manner.